


Into The Woods

by USSRomanoff



Series: 2016 52 week challenge [2]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Cuddle for Warmth, First Aid, Gen, It's 3 am, Lost in Woods, idk what else to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 02:45:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5726812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/USSRomanoff/pseuds/USSRomanoff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate helps an injured Clint through the forest in search of a safe house after a mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into The Woods

**Author's Note:**

> 2\. A story about rising to a challenge

The woods or any forested area were not a familiar place to Kate. The closest she'd been to camping in the woods was trips to ski lodges with her mother, and those were always much more on the resort side. But besides that she didn't have any familiarity with camping. She couldn't tell you how to pitch a tent, it was all foreign to her, which was why she hoped they could make it to the cabin safe house before dark. 

She had her arm around Clint helping support his weight. She wasn't quite sure how many injuries he had, he was at least bleeding from somewhere on his left leg and his side as well as a few cuts on his face, but those were nothing to really worry about for now. She was nervous that he was going to pass out on her. Kate was not going to get far carrying him on her own. Her own injuries weren't life threatening or need immediate attention like his. She might have cracked a rib, at the very least it was bruised badly. 

Kate paused between some trees and looked around. She felt closed in and with the cover of trees she couldn't tell the direction from the sun. "Shit," she said, she wasn't sure where she was heading. 

Clint lifted his head some. "Whas wrong?" He slurred. 

"Uh, not sure where I'm going..." Kate replied with a sigh, she was all turned around. 

"S'okay," he said, "the forest floor soaks m'blood up..." 

"Oh good, that's reassuring," she sighed. 

"Sorry, I'll make a compass arrow when we get home," he said. 

Kate groaned as she picked a direction to head in. "Why not just add a regular compass to our gear? Why don't we have one anyway?" 

"Dunno, GPS," he grunted as they walked over uneven ground. 

"Yeah that's helpful when we can't get a signal..." Kate muttered. They needed to reassess their gear, but at least they had a first aid kit. Shelter would be a challenge if she couldn't find the safe house she was looking for. 

The longer Clint went without care though the worse off they were going to be. She couldn't get him professional medical care for a bit so she didn't want him getting past a point where she could help him. It wasn't a heavy flow of blood but it was steady and he was losing some. Kate was going to have to make a choice here soon to keep wandering aimlessly hoping to come across the safe house before dark or just set up camp while she has daylight left. It was already dark with light being filtered through the leaves above. Night would probably be even worse for visibility. 

There was a strong earthy scent that was almost overpowering here. The metallic smell of Clint's blood mingled with it, making it almost nauseating. Kate breathed through her mouth whenever she felt like it was too much. She glanced around as she walked, looking for any clue she was heading in the right direction or even the wrong direction. It all looked the same, just more dense forest that could be hiding any sort of danger with incredible ease. 

Kate looked up and couldn't see the sky through the trees. "I think I need to set up camp here," she sighed. 

"Giving up already Hawkeye?" He asked as Kate helped him to sit on a pile of leaves and lean against a tree trunk. 

"I just don't want you bleeding out before I find the place," she said. She pulled out the small first aid kit and knelt next to him. "Okay, looks like we got the bare minimum here," she said opening the kit. 

"A band aid and a couple alcohol wipes?" He asked with a chuckle. 

"A little more than that," she said rolling her eyes. 

Kate pulled his shirt up to look at the wound on his side, she was trying to leave it on to avoid looking at his bare chest. The last thing she needed was wandering eyes and blushing, it annoyed her that she had to make such an effort not to look like an idiot. "Okay, this isn't so bad... Don't think it needs stitches actually..." She said, it was more of a scrape and had pretty much scabbed over by now, which meant he was losing the majority of his blood from his leg. She cleaned it up as well as she could and bandaged it with a large gauze and tape. 

Clint looked a little pale and Kate reconsidered starting with his chest. She should have taken care of his leg as soon as she saw his chest wasn't that bad. Although if she waited longer he might pass out and she could avoid the inevitable trying to get into my pants joke. She shouldn't do that though as tempting as it was. 

"Alright, let's look at the leg," Kate said, not wanting to have to take his pants off herself. It would just be the awkward cherry on top. 

"You're just trying to get in my pants," he joked weakly. Kate rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, choosing not to say anything about it since she saw it coming. Clint undid his pants and Kate helped pull them off by the ankles, nothing sexy about that. Although one would think the blood would be enough but, you know, the more she could not think of him like that the better. 

His leg had been grazed by a bullet and needed stitches. She disinfected the wound and got out the supplies to stitch him up. It wouldn't be very good but it would do for now, and they'd get him to a doctor before they needed to worry too much about an infection although it was still a real concern. 

"Okay, I have nothing to numb this so... Find a stick to bite down on?" Kate said as she looked up at him from the wound. 

"I'll be okay, just don't try to be a perfectionist girlie-girl, needle in and out enough to hold me together till we get home, got it?" 

Kate nodded solemnly, wishing she had something because she knew this would hurt. Even a shot of alcohol would help a little, but him propped up against a tree like this was the best she could work with. She took a breath and inserted the needle, trying not to be hesitant about it. Clint hissed and his leg jerked reflexively. 

"Don't move!" Kate said, her voice carrying more of her internal panic than she intended. 

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," he replied through gritted teeth. 

"Should I hold your leg down then?" She asked. 

Clint tilted his head a little at her. "How are you going to hold it down and stitch at the same time?" 

"Telekinesis?" She suggested and pressed her lips together trying to figure it out. "Um, I can sit on your leg?" 

Clint shrugged and rubbed his face. "Give it a try," he said. "But you weigh like a pound." 

Kate nodded and moved, sitting on his knee to try to pin him down with her weight. It might not be ideal but she did weigh more than a pound so she could at least minimize some jerking around. She continued stitching him up as quick as she could. The end result wasn't pretty but it would do the job. She then taped some gauze down on it and helped him wiggle back into his pants. 

It was dark and she had no hope of getting back up to find the safe house. Kate rubbed her forehead and looked at Clint. "I should go get some wood or something to start a fire," she said. 

"Do we have anything to even start a fire?" He asked. 

"Uh, splodie arrow?" 

Clint laughed weakly. "That works," he said. It was already getting cold and they were going to need heat. 

Kate left him and gathered up some branches, taking back as many as she could carry. She set them down and went to their gear. 

"Uh, what are you doing Kate?" 

"Building a fire?" Kate replied and looked at her pile of sticks. 

"Not like that," he said and pushed himself up with some effort. He went to the pile and started rearranging the sticks. "Have you ever built a fire before?" 

"No, but... I mean, it's wood and flames, right?" Kate shrugged. 

"Little more than that, I'll take care of it..." He said. And held out his hand for the arrow. 

"But... I can do it..." 

"I actually want to be warm, it's fine... You can gather wood when we need it," he said. Kate sighed and relented, giving him the arrow and letting him light the fire. He got it started and leaned back against the tree with a groan. Kate sat next to him, leaving a good amount of space between them and sighed. 

"I'll find the safe house tomorrow," she said softly. 

Clint smiled and nudged her shoulder with his. "It's fine if we don't find it, you did a good job stitching me up." 

Kate smiled and nodded. "Thanks, doesn't look like you're dying today Hawkeye," she said. 

"Well, you did your best," he sighed and scratched at his side where the gauze was. Kate smacked his hand away. 

"Don't pick at it," she said. 

"I'm not," he said innocently. Kate gave him a look and he sighed. "Fine." He dropped his hand. "Let's get some sleep." 

Kate laid down and folded her arms under her head. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, from what she could hear Clint laid down too. She tried to fall asleep but the fire wasn't helping all that much with keeping her warm. She moved her arms from under her head to hug herself but that didn't help her anymore than the fire did. And the ground was uncomfortable and didn't help her ability to sleep. She laid there for what felt like hours until she saw the fire was dying. 

She got up and fed more wood to the fire building it back up. She glanced at Clint, his back was turned to her and she assumed he was asleep. Kate laid back down and sighed softly, not bothering to close her eyes. She heard leaves rustling and Clint rolling over. 

"It's damn cold," he complained. 

"Hadn't noticed," Kate shrugged, hugging herself tightly and trying not to shiver. 

"Liar," he said. Clint scooted closer to her and Kate eyed him. 

"What are you doing?" Kate said. 

"Alright, one-- you're hogging the fire and two-- if we lay together then we can share body warmth," he said. 

"Oh, yeah," Kate said awkwardly. "Sure..." 

Clint cleared his throat and carefully draped an arm around her, almost not even touching her. Kate sighed, it was awkward but this also didn't help the cold. She shifted and scooted back against him and pulled his arm tighter around herself, which helped the cold. They could find the safe house in the morning.


End file.
